CAT 09, phase 2: 'I have no complaints'

Last updated on: February 01, 2010 15:54 IST

The second phase of CAT testing happened over January 30-31 for more than 6,500 students across the country. The CAT made its debut as a computer-based test in November 2009 and encountered a variety of issues. Hardware problems, virus attacks and sudden cancellations at some test centres, left thousands of students clamouring for a second chance. This prompted the IIMs to hold a second phase of testing, to ensure deserving candidates were not denied a fair chance.

So how did Round 2 go? Says Rakesh Jha*, a 22-year-old BTech student from Delhi, "The test went off smoothly for everyone at the centre. There were no complaints." He had to re-schedule the test for January 30 since some of the diagrams were not visible on the computer screen in his first attempt. "But rescheduling was no problem. I just send them [Prometric] a mail stating why I needed to re-take the test and they sent me a date," he says.

Prita Malhotra* had a similar experience. "When I took the CAT the first time, the computer hanged repeatedly. And I informed the invigilator. After that Prometric was in constant touch regarding whether I was eligible for a second attempt and how I could go about getting a test date." And how did she fare the second time around? "Very well," says the 21-year-old commerce graduate, "I have no complaints."

But it was not smooth sailing for everyone. Ravikant, a 22-year-old BTech graduate from Kurukshetra, took the test again on January 30. He had to reschedule because the figures of the pie-charts and graphs were not visible in the test he took on December 3 and he could not attempt almost 20 questions. "I spoke to the invigilator about it and he said that I would have to wait for official notification from Prometric." So he called the helpline and lodged a complaint. He then mailed Prometric about the issues he had faced. "But I only found out that I would have a second chance about 14 days before the actual date. I had given up all hope and was quite unprepapred to take the test again," he says. "There were no tech problems, and the test was okay for me."